Summary: Everyone knows Oliver Wood. He's the seventh year Gryffindor obsessed with Quidditch. But why is he so focused? What drives him on? And how will he cope when the Dementors get too close to his Seeker, and Diggory catches the Snitch?

Shutting himself in the changing room showers, Oliver cannot bring himself to visit Harry in the hospital wing, for the Dementors have released long repressed horrors in his own life. Will he finally face the reality of his life and obsession?

This is Equinox Chick submitting her final for the Characterisation class on the MNFF beta boards.

I would like to thank Emma (Amortentia X) for her invaluable help in beta'ing this tale. She not only corrected my horrible punctuation but helped a great deal with characterisation. I would also like to thank fgweasley, inspirations, eternalangel, Electronic Quillster and luinrina for their suggestions in class. Last but most definitely not least - thank you, Prof Haylee for allocating me Oliver Wood!

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, but I doubt you're surprised by that.

** indicates a line taken from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The opening lines are taken from a Stevie Smith poem called 'Not Waving, but Drowning.'

Nominated for a 2009 QSQ award in the Best Same Sex Pairing category. Thank you.

Also nominated for a 2010 QSQ award in the Best same Sex Pairing category. Thank you!

I don't think I have it in me to write Spew quality reviews anymore, it's been such a long time! But I'm going to try anyway. I LOVED this story. See, I started fangirling, not a good sign. I don't remember the last time I read fan fiction. It's been years, literally, and I am so glad I made my comeback with this story. It's not only provocative, but it's also has a heart and it can be heart wrenching at times. Your characterizations are spot on, you reminded me of why Remus/Sirius was my OTP. Also the rest of the Marauders, Lily, and Tonks at the end were beautifully written. I really can't think of anything I didn't like (bad fangirl syndrome, I guess, even though I'm a boy) The twist at the end was particularly brilliant. I didn't see that one coming, at all. But it makes total sense. I reread "Order of the Phoenix" not to long ago and it was the first time I noticed how smitten was Sirius with James. He could've been in love with him, it fits with the canon. Thank you for writing such a beautiful story and for reminding me why I loved fanfiction so much. Harald

Author's Response: Thank you so much for the lovely review. I have to say I don't usually ship Sirius/Remus - being a strong Remus/Tonks fan, but there's something about the bonds between the Marauders that draws me to explore their friendship and the great love they had for each other. I do, though, love writing the Marauders and this story seemed to grab at me one night when I was despairing over a particularly poor AU (which I have subsequently deleted). Thanks again, Harald, for the review - it is much appreciated. ~Carole~

Summary: There is something about the exhilaration of being alive after staring death in the face that makes one burn to celebrate that defiance. Nothing changes when Neville has something to get off his chest.

The Harry Potter universe and everything in it is property of J.K. Rowling.

This was a really nice story. I never thought of Harry and Neville as a couple until I read your fic. You made it look plausible. I particularly liked the Pensieve scene and my favorite was the last one. It was so bittersweet how Neville knew they wouldn't be together anymore, but at least he had him for one night. Great job! I'm glad I found this.

This fic was so great, I don't know where to start. The way you imagined their future, i.e. the auror training, it's very plausible.Or at least, I feel it that way. The way you divided the story into hours and days was very smart. It gave it a military feeling and you even used it to your to create humor, later on in the fic. You took your time to create a backstory where J.K. stopped and it paid off. I particularly liked Harry standing Ginny up and Neville falling in love with Harry during their fifth year. I had never thought about it, but it would make a lot of sense for someone to fall in love with Harry during that year. (I'm not talking about Cho here, I don't think she was really in love with him.) I felt identified with Neville's role here, because it is a role I have played several times (sadly) in my life. Being in love with someone you know will never feel the same way back. Although in Neville's case it turned out for the best, go Neville! I think you did it justice. It was real, subtle and very touching. And the same things goes for Harry's feelings. He was very mature about it, even if he enjoyed knowing that his friend had fancied him for such a long period of time (which made it more real the fact that he was a bit egocentric). The last scene was the cherry on top of the cake. It's been a while since I've read a kissing scene that has made me feel so... tingled? Shall we say? It was lovely, truly lovely. I hope one day I can share ink and parchment with someone, the same way Harry and Neville did. Thank you for writing this.

This is the first Remus/James fic I've ever read, and I'm very glad particularly this one was my first because it was lovely! They make a beautiful couple. The characterizations were spot on! Great work. I loved reading it. Good luck with the contest.

Author's Response: A very belated thank you for the review! I'm so glad you enjoyed this story and really appreciate the lovely comments, especially about characterization. That's tricky when you are veering off into ssp territory sometimes. ;) Thanks again for reading! ~Gina :)

This story was very sad, beautiful and sexy (elements that I love in a story) all at the same time. I think it was nicely written. I think you suggest very well without telling too much and that makes it even more enticing. Dru is an interesting character, I want to know more about him know, and Oliver, well, he's always a pleasure to read. Death and sex are opposites, and it's very hard to put them together, but I think you did a great job. Cheers!

Author's Response: Sex,death, and drug use, abuse, and bad flings-- these are a few of my favorite things. There's lots of good pain to plumb out with this sort of subject matter. The trick is to do it without being trite or, you know, porny. The vocabulary of the mechanics of sex-- it's a slippery slope when trying to pair it with the vocabulary of grief. I really hope I got the balance right.
Dru is deeply flawed, and as such, he was a pleasure to write. I'm pleased you found him interesting. He has quite a back story in my head.
I'm toying with the idea of a prequel to this story. I don't know. I might have to hammer that one out when I get the time.
Thank you so much for reading and for the review. I truly appreciate any and all feedback :-)
-Susan
P.S. If the HTML tags show up in this reply, I apologize. For some reason my responses have been showing up as one big block and it's driving me nuts.

It's always interesting to read fics that deal with periods of canon in which Harry wasn't around. To be honest I find it a bit hard to believe that Sirius would have let Peter go in such a moment, but then again who knows? Anything could've happened. Specially when such feelings are involved. Maybe stroking Sirius ego is all one needs to do to get off his hook.

Summary: For me, he was an obsession, a burning obsession, one that I could never let go of. I could never take my eyes off him, never not listen to anything he was saying. I followed him anywhere I could, agreed with everything he said, went along with all his mad schemes. I thought about him all the time, but I never said one word to him about it. My obsession with him went far beyond what Sirius and Remus felt. It was all-consuming. He was my drug, my addiction.

This story left me with a creepy feeling inside. It's not very often that one runs into a first person pov told from Peter's perspective. Kudos to you. You did a lovely job with this one. It started out sweet and ended up, well, as I said it before creepy and sad at the same time. Even though the story was short, his character felt very real and fresh. Not many people take him seriously, he's just the bastard who betrayed James and Lily and should be ridiculed because of it. But you took the time to think about it and give a plausible excuse to why he acted the way he did and in result you wrote a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.

Summary: Hugo Weasley is about to play his sister for the Quidditch Cup. The night before the match, he goes for a ride out on the Quidditch pitch to clear his head. Instead, he ends up in the Forbidden Forest with one of the last people he would have expected: Scorpius Malfoy, fellow Slytherin and his Quidditch Captain.

I don't think that last line was ridiculous. Actually I think it is quite lovable. The idea of having the Thestral's kick them off their brooms was a good one, but it made me wonder, why can Hugo see them? I forget canon very quickly so there could be something I'm overlooking, or is this why it is an AU story? This is the first Hugo/Scorpius story I've ever read and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very fresh and sweet. Good job.

Author's Response: Thank you so much for reading this story! I'm glad you liked it. Hugo can see the Thestrals because he saw someone die. Who that was, I'm not quite sure--maybe I'll save that for another tale. ;) As for the AU label, I was reading this and thinking...AU? And then I went back and read one of the story/chapter/end notes. I was only joking about it being AU by how another author--EquinoxChick--sees it. I wrote this story to go with a poem I wrote for her birthday. I don't think she's a Hugo/Scorpius shipper, though--she wrote a fantastic story called 'High' that is about Scorpius and Lily. So according to her canon as per that story, Hugo and Scorpius is AU. Haha, that is so convoluted! Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks again for the review! ~Gina :)

That was so sweet. I really like the job you did with the characterisation of both Oliver and Neville, I never would've imagined as a couple, but after reading this, I can see it. I would like to see where this couple's story goes so if you plan to write more, just let me know. Cheers!

Summary: During their sixth year at Hogwarts, James and Remus find themselves drawn together as they come of age. How will it change their friendship--with the others, as well as one another?This is Gmariam of Ravenclaw NOT writing for the Great Hall Cotillion of 2013.

This story was lovely, it truly was. I have to be honest, at first I was a bit thrown off because I'm not a huge fan of second person narration, but after a while you get used to it. I thought that giving the perspective of both Remus and James was both original and entertaining. Oh, and the snogging scenes made my toes curl so congratulations. Great story!

Summary: Sometimes Seamus Finnigan felt his life was feckload of regrets. Some were small regrets, like lending Nev his quill when he knew he'd lose it. But some were bigger, like believing his mam over Harry ... or encouraging Dean to go for it with Ginny Weasley.

But as long as no one saw his regrets, he could bury them under a smile and pretend they'd never happened.

Couldn't he?

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling.

This is Equinox Chick and this is my fifth entry into the Great Hall Cotillion Challenge thingy.

I think this is the first Dean/Seamus fic I read and I loved it! First of all I love the characterisation of both boys, you give enough backstory to keep us interested and give us a glimpse of who these people are, but not too much to forget where the story is going. I felt that you handled their relationship authentically and sensitively. It didn't seem forced in any way. Congratulations, this is a lovely fic.

Author's Response: Thank you very much. I think what I most wanted to explore with this story is the great friendship between the pair and how that can segue into something else, not necessarily something more or better, but just a different type of relationship. They nearly lost each other, and that would have been tragic. Thank you again ~Carole~

Summary: Florean is not the name I was born with: my parents called me Alric.

At the close of his life, the man known as Florean Fortescue remembers. There is much to remember from a life spanning ten centuries, but his mind drifts back to the very beginning of that life, and to his time with Merlin - a relationship that changed him irrevocably.

Hi, I understand where you're coming from I also started my long abandoned fic from scratch. This is a good start. I know want to know who this person is and what is the secret he's holding. Nice work with the description at the beginning of the fic. Cheers!

Summary: Christmas is a time for couples to be together. But for Zacharias Smith and Cormac McLaggen, their time together ran out long before festive season had begun. It would take a miracle to get them back together. Or maybe a Fairy Godmother in the unlikely form of Romilda Vane.

Under My Skin is a sequel to Truth or Dare, but it won't be necessary to read that to understand this. But it did win a QSQ, and is one of my favourites. I dedicate this story to hestiajones because I know she loves a bit of ZacMac. Merry Christmas, Natalieeeeee.

I am Equinox Chick and this is my entry for Prompt 3 - Unexpected Guests - in the Let The Yule Tide Roll Challenge.

Hi! I'l terrible with reviews, but I'm going to give this a try. I read it all in one sitting. I was going to read only the first chapter and leave the rest for later, but I was hooked! What I enjoyed the most were your characters. You really had a strong grasp on them. They were a delight to read, specially the Romilda and Cormac relationship. Congratulations!

Author's Response: Thank you so much for this review and I must apoilogise for the length of time it's taken me to respond. I see m to keep coming back to this pairing which I only meant to write once - ooops. Thanks again ~Carole.